President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he visited Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and he was aware of where he stood on export controls.
"Smart man," Trump said about Huang when asked about the meeting. Pressed on whether he had made clear to Huang his views on export controls and the types of chips that the company could give to China, Trump said: "He knows."
The meeting between Huang and Trump comes as the administration is considering whether to allow Nvidia to sell its H200 chips, which are one generation behind its current flagship chips, to China. Huang was in the U.S. capital meeting with lawmakers, where he told them that state-by-state U.S. regulations would slow the progress of AI development, he told CNBC.
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"State-by-state AI regulation would drag this industry into a halt and it would create a national security concern, as we need to make sure that the United States advances AI technology as quickly as possible," Huang said. "A federal AI regulation is the wisest."
Huang also commented on the Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence (GAIN) Act, which lawmakers were considering in a major defense package, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The GAIN AI Act would require chipmakers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to give U.S. companies first pick on their AI chips before selling them in countries like China. The proposal isn't expected to be part of the NDAA, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
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Huang said it was "wise" that the proposal is being left out of the annual defense policy bill.
Last month, Trump told legislators to include a provision in the NDAA that would preempt state AI laws in favor of "one federal standard." But House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told CNBC the provision won't make it into the bill, citing a lack of sufficient support. He and other lawmakers will continue to look for ways to establish a national standard on AI, Scalise added.
Huang also said that Trump's pro-growth energy policies have "saved the AI industry," on "The Joe Rogan Experience."
"...And the fact that he [Trump] came into office and the first thing that he said was 'drill, baby, drill.' The point is we need energy growth. Without energy growth, we can have no industrial growth. And that was... it saved the AI industry," Huang said, referring the Trump's comments about a return to fossil fuel dominance, over the clean energy and climate-oriented policies favored by the Biden administration.